A New Infliction
by Sakamoto Kazuma
Summary: After Shiro was banished to the Underworld, Minion Master Sakamoto Kazuma looks for work, and discovers the legend of the Underworld. The SS. Now he must travel to claim what is his, and possibly save the world. ..... Again.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own Guild Wars nor do I claim that I created it. I do however own a copy of the game, and the character Sakamoto Kazuma.

This story takes place after the Factions campaign.

**A New Infliction**

**By: Sakamoto Kazuma**

**Chapter 1**

My name is Sakamoto Kazuma. Roughly translated, it means Book of the hill called Lonely One, and a lonely one I have been these past few years. Went through the Academy by myself, fighting among others. Fought against the charr by myself, and was betrayed multiple times. Quickly I found myself sent to the Crystal Desert to face dragons and to rediscover myself.

I had grown up with the teachings of a monk, and had always thought that that was what I should be. A healer born into a world of death. I guess it sort of makes sense since my primary profession is necromancy, or the study of the dead. Lately, however, Senji has revealed a new path in my life. The fortune teller's tale of deceit of foes as I am to cover their internal vision and steal energy through a new profession known as the mesmer. I cannot change who I am. I will be a necromancer and play with the dead until the day Balthazar claims my soul, but this newfound profession scares me a bit. I must now learn new skills and determine again what is best to use.

Finding a job as a minion master wasn't too hard with the afflicted going around in masses. Those who hired me provided plenty of bodies for my Golems and fiends. Even met a few fellow necromancers who would sacrifice their life to simply provide me with more energy when I needed it, or would die to be resurrected after I had used the necessary parts of their bodies to create what I needed. Regardless to say, I would not be here if it weren't for the sacrifices for some of the men and women I have encountered.

But now that the afflicted have been destroyed, there just never seems to be enough bodies for any minion master to survive on. I have been back to the kurzicks and Luxons asking for jobs, but their peace between each other is still strong, and thus provides me with boredom, and no money. Master Togo has also been stressed with the rebuilding of his homeland, and mutters about the legendary SS in his sleep. When asked about it, he simply smiles and tells me that it is a path that I may choose to take later on in life.

Now, as I sit here on the top of the world in the Shiverpeaks, I wonder what happened to King Adelbern. I can see his castle in the distance, but I know it's been abandoned. I should make it there tomorrow. A group of dolyak masters and ice elementals stand between my goal and myself, but I am certain that the wildlife here is still sufficient for me to raise a small army to get through them. Worst case is that I ride atop my golem and simply run through them.

It is a new morning. It is time to see what the wildlife around this area still has in store for me. I grab my supplies, and my staff. It's a collector's bone staff with a few upgrades of my own. A new staff head and wrapping makes it excellent for any minion master. I'm thinking of dying it black, to match the coldness of my heart, which I have recently realized, but black dye isn't the cheapest of all things around here. Last I saw, it was going for around 9 platinum. When each platinum is worth around a thousand Gold, it makes me wonder if that's really worth it to have a pretty staff.

I start my hike down to the valley. Kind Adelbern's castle sits on top of the mountains on the other side of the valley. Nothing. It's as if nothing lives anymore. I double check my armor, and its runes. Set for death magic and curses. I'm still not sure why that was a good idea, but Master Togo insisted on it. He only mentioned something about a legendary SS skill that I have yet to learn.

I continue on my way, but duck behind a rotting log as something catches my eye. A lone azure shadow. From the greenish glow around it, I recognize it as the fabled Nighh Spinechill. Legend has it that whoever kills it has the chance of becoming the keeper of the underworld. Problem is, these things never travel alone. That and the fact that the legend said it resided in the Talus Chute, not in these unnamed regions. The stories of the riches the underworld contains make me think twice about attacking it. Better to be safe than sorry. A death now would send me back a few days worth of hiking.

I cast awaken the blood, and charge in with my staff at the ready. The shadow jumped three feet in the air out of surprise, and took a blast from my staff. Spinal shivers, vampiric gaze, malaise, one spell after the other on it. It refused to die. Finally a paladin jumped out of nowhere and slammed his hammer on it killing it. "Congratulations. You now own the underworld according to the legend." "What? You're the one who killed it." The paladin sat down on a rock. "Yeah but I'm not a nec. Legend only holds true to necs." "Oh. I didn't know that." I sat down next to him. "So what now? … I don't feel any different." He laughed. "Hell if I know. No one's ever gotten close to slaying that thing. I only killed it because you cast so many hexes on it." "Oh." I look at the body, and remember Master Togo's talk of the SS, and the Legend of the underworld. I look through my inventory at the things I was told to keep with me at all times. A wicked staff for curses, salvage kit, identification kit. Nothing. Then I remember the Signet of Capture. What the hell. I use it on the slain beast. First thing that pops up. Spiteful Spirit. Curse elite spell, and it packed a lot of potential damage. I began to see things pop into place. **S**piteful **S**pirit was SS. SS was a build of a profession other than minion mastery, the use of a disease to render groups of enemies diseased. It was a one man army of curses without the need of bodies. I still didn't understand how this would give me control of the underworld, but I didn't care. It had given my life new hope. Work could be found more easily. Now instead of becoming powerful against mortal bodies, I could now become powerful against spirits.

"Where do you go from here?" The paladin looked up from his sharpening of his swords, glanced at the dead shadow, and replied, "I'm stationed up at the castle. I've nowhere to go while Master Silverwing insists that the weather will clear enough for us to reach Kryta and then his kinfolk. … What about you?" I kicked a rock at me feet. "I don't know. I'm running low on cash, I've only got a few more days of rations left, apparently now I own the Underworld, but I don't even know which way is north now. … I'm not used to traveling alone in the wilderness. Fighting the afflicted in familiar quarters wasn't as confusing as this." The paladin got to his feet and offered me a hand up, which I took, and thanked him. "It seems like you could use a place to stay for a bit. When Master Silverwing reaches his kinfolk, I'll take you the extra few miles to the temple of the ages." I thanked him. I didn't mention the fact that I knew Master Silverwing, and that we had helped each other out countless times before Shiro was banned to the Underworld.

"By the way, my name is Scorpo Billinsky." I shook his hand. "Honor to meet you." "I assure you. The honor is mine." He smiled. I didn't see him smile, for he had his helmet back on at that point, but I could sense the same fluctuations in his spirit that I see whenever anyone smiles. It had become almost second nature in me to be able to predict or see what one could feel. It was almost as if I was psychic, but only to those who worshipped Balthazar, Melandru, or any of the gods that resided in the underworld. It was strange, and I never understood it, but I accepted it and used it to my advantage.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Eve put down the journal. "That was an interesting read." Sakamoto looked over toward her, and saw what she had been reading, and threw the apple he was polishing at her. Eve laughed and flicked her finger towards the incoming apple, which turned to ash and dropped to the floor. Sakamoto shook his head and grabbed another apple from the barrel. They had been sitting there for close to a week now. They were stuck in the castle, but only because constant winds were blowing towards them bringing snowstorms one after the other.

Talon Silverwing walked towards them. "Sakamoto, quit wasting food. Eve, quit nosing in other people's business. Scorpo, I need your assistance in tanking and luring a group of dwarves into Lornar's Pass. There's a blizzard due north that looks like it may come this way, and if we can get them lost in the storm, we may be able to sneak past the dwarves and cut through Dreadnought's Drift and directly into Kryta." Sakamoto got up, and said, "I'm coming too." Silverwing looked at him. "This isn't time for games Sakamoto. You know just as well as me or Eve that there isn't enough bodies out there for you to do any good, and the wilderness has been scared off by the blizzards that have been bombarding us." "Actually I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled something unheard of." Silverwing looked towards the source of the voice. It was Scorpo. "How?" "When I found him, he was in the process of killing Spinechill." Silverwing gave Sakamoto a look of discontent. "Fine then. Come along then I guess. You're probably just gonna rack up death penalties, but I guess I could use another bait man." Sakamoto pulled himself up and muttered, "Gee thanks for the inspirational motivation."

Sakamoto picked up his wicked staff, and followed Scorpo and Talon out the door. Eve muttered something about a moron, and resumed her chanting in attempts to summon the apple back from the ashes.

They stepped out into the cool air. It wasn't frigid, but just cold enough to keep the snow on the ground from melting. Talon Silverwing tilted his head a bit seemingly in deep though, then pointed towards a cliff. "We need to head in that direction." They started off at a gentle jog, only ten minutes later, they stopped and looked across the valley. "That's interesting," Talon muttered. "All the dolyak healers are clumped together, and the nearest actual fighter class creature is at least 30 meters from them." Sakamoto looked and saw that it was true. "Stay here," Sakamoto whispered. "I'll take care of this group." By group he meant army, for besides the 6 healers, there were close to 40 other fighter class creatures there including dwarves and enslaved ettins.

Sakamoto picked his way through the brushes, and made his way stealthily to the healers. He got to a comfortable position, and started to cast spells on the healers. Awaken the Blood, then Arcane Echo. Target one of the healers, and cast Spiteful Spirit on it. That healer recognized that it was a curse, and immediately cast orison of healing on itself not knowing that that would activate the curse. Spiteful Spirit spread to the surrounding healers, which did the same. At that point, Sakamoto cast malaise on a few of the stronger healers, and watched as the healers literally healed themselves to death.

Talon watched the scene from a distance. "Maybe I was wrong about the whole baitman and death penalty thing I was talking about earlier," he muttered. Scorpo didn't answer. Talon looked at him. He was in shock with his mouth hanging wide open. "Scorpo, you ok?" Scorpo snapped out of his shock and whispered, "Yeah that's fucking amazing.

Sakamoto made his way back to Talon and Scorpo. "Now that the healers are gone, it should only be a matter of days before the others realize that they can't stay out here for any longer, and head back. However, if you can clump them all together, I think it's possible to pull the same trick on them and get rid of them once and for all." Talon nodded. "That was incredible, but I think we'd better head back for now. I'm hoping that they will just all go back to Sorrow's Furnace for supplies and whatnot. We can use that window to get across and into Kryta." Scorpo nodded his head and said, "Yeah I think that's a good idea. Why fight when we don't have to?" Sakamoto nodded, started to say something, but fainted instead.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Sakamoto woke up and looked around. He was in a bed, which was something he hadn't slept in for a long time. Even at the castle, he preferred to sleep. Every part of his body ached, but surprisingly, he wasn't cold. In fact he was sweating, and felt very hot. Scorpo popped into view, and said, "Welcome to Kryta my friend." Sakamoto sat up and blinked a few times. "How?" "You fainted from exhaustion. First time using the spell or something. You didn't wake up for 4 hours, so we decided that it wasn't worth the wait for you to wake up and walk down the mountain yourself." "So how did I end up coming down the mountains?" "Talon and I build a sled. We dragged you around, then all got on it and sledded most of the way down." Sakamoto gave him a look. Scorpo laughed. "Hey, I'm not kidding. You can ask Silverwing yourself." "Whatever dude. Whatever."

Eve walked in. Somehow she looked a lot older than she did up at the castle. Wrinkles at the corner of her mouth, and bags under her eyes made it seem as if she had been crying about something. She wasn't in her armor anymore, but rather in what seemed to be monk robes like the ones Brother Mhenlo wore all the time. Scorpo's face turned. "I'll, uhh leave you two alone for now." Scorpo must have pissed her off, Sakamoto thought.

"How are you doing?" Eve came over and sat by Sakamoto. She started to brush her hand through his hair caringly. "I'm certainly doing better than when I was unconscious" "Yeah that's true." There was a long awkward silence. "Is everything alright Eve? You seem mentally preoccupied." "Yeah, it's just … well." Eve threw her head to get her bangs out of the way of her face. Sakamoto noticed that she seemed to have a bit of color in her flesh, which was usually pale due to her constant close encounters with death. Then he realized what was happening. "Are you … blushing?"

Eve was utterly embarrassed. She didn't plan for it to work out like that. She didn't plan on blushing, and making herself look like an innocent little girl, that had no experience with relationships. Especially if that's exactly what she was. "I'm sorry," she stammered. "I should let you rest up and wait until you're walking around before I ask you on a date." _Ooh why did I say that?_ She thought suddenly. She tore herself up for that mentally, and looked back at Sakamoto to see if she should be completely embarrassed and attempt suicide again.

Sakamoto had a sort of half-smile, half-concerned look on his face. He reached up and pulled her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears for her, then held her face. "As soon as I get enough strength to walk around, I'll take you somewhere." Eve brought her hand up and took Sakamoto's hand in hers. They stared into each other's eyes for a while. Eve finally smiled, and said, "Get some rest, cowboy."

The days stated to fly by as Sakamoto got progressively better. Talon Silverwing wanted to stay and make sure that he was alright before he took off. His own business was urgent, but he cared enough about his friends to stay and make sure all was well. Within a few days of Talon's departure, Sakamoto was able to walk about, and true to his word, he took Eve out on a couple of long walks in the Krytan countryside. Day by day as Sakamoto grew stronger and closer to a full recovery, he also grew closer and closer to Eve. Eve also started to look more and more like herself again.

"Remember when we were still young, and Verrata was all big on raising the dead, and all that controversial research that our elders kept complaining about?" Sakamoto turned his head to look at her. They were lying on the side of a hill, side by side, with Eve cuddling up against Sakamoto. "Yeah, only it wasn't my parents. It was always the school. Always complaining about something. No raising the dead, no running off to find Verrata. Hell they made me throw out the voodoo dolls I made of Verrata." "It's hard to imagine that that was the same world as it is today, with the demand for minion masters going up, and now starting to decline." "It was the common minion master that saved the day at Vizunah square." "Are you calling me a common minion master?" They both turned on their sides to face and hold each other. Eve giggled, and tapped Sakamoto's nose with her own. "Common enough for me," she whispered, then kissed him.

Finally, after a week of rest, Sakamoto decided that it was time to get going. He called upon Scorpo to take him to the temple of ages and show him the entrance to the Underworld. Scorpo made the run with him, and when they arrived at the temple of ages unscathed, even Scorpo started to wonder what SS really was and what it meant for him if he stayed with Sakamoto.

Eve had decided to stay behind in Lion's Arch for a few days. She had mentioned something about shopping, and a new wardrobe. Sakamoto wasn't sure what she was talking about since armor would take a lot of crafting materials that he knew she didn't have. Scorpo thought she just meant dye shopping and getting new colors for herself, but Sakamoto couldn't imagine her in anything but black.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

My name is Katalina Kazuma. I'm related to the famous Sakamoto Kazuma. Where he is off to fight off the undead in the underworld, I am still stuck in Elona. I'm a dervish, which probably doesn't mean a lot to any of you, but if you know what a warrior is, then you pretty much know what I do. I tank. I use enchantments to keep me alive. Although it is usually not recommended, I do wear a dress in battle. Many people wonder how I'm able to keep myself alive in a dress, and I respond simply by beating them in getting to the next gate.

It was a few weeks after my brother, Sakamoto, left for Cantha, and then Tyria. I had recently used a capture signet to capture the Avatar of Balthazar skill, which I thought was very unique. With it, I gained armor, while moving a heck of a lot faster. I was in the planning stages of using it to make a living running people from town to town when I heard that there was an opportunity for me to meet up with Sakamoto, and earn money at the same time. I heard of a legendary run called a Droks Run. It composed of a passage through Lornar's Pass, then Dreadnaught's Drift and snake dance to Camp Rankor. Eventually bringing people from Beacon's Perch to Droknar's Forge, the city of riches in Tyria. The best armor for all Tyrians was found there. I myself was looking forward to the Primeval Armor that the Gate of Secrets said they would make for me if I ever got the money for it. A grand whopping 88,000 gold! That was also assuming that the prices on Elonian leather didn't rise.

I digress.

I had made it to Beacon's Perch the night before a great blizzard was to take into effect. Storm watchers had told us that they'd seen the clouds move towards the perch, but weren't sure if they'd gain enough altitude to wash over us. Either way it was late, and I decided on getting some rest before making the attempts. As I got comfortable, a dwarf came over and asked if I required any assistance or company for the night. I told him to shove off, which resulted in a laugh, but still moved him on.

Morning broke. Time for the big attempt. I set the skills that I was planning on using, and ventured out into the pass. Avatar of Balthazar went up first, and I ran south. Got hit by ice imps and pinesouls. Harrier's Haste boosted my speed. I sped past them. Suddenly, BAM! I was knocked down as a frost worm came out of nowhere and attacked me. Being knocked down, I was hit with a barrage of ice imp attacks and boulders from the pinesouls. My health deteriorated exponentially, and before I knew it, I was back at the resurrection shrine. I need knockdown prevention, I thought. I went back into the outpost, grabbed fleeting stability, and switched the avatar for something else. Something that I thought would definitely get me through. Something so wicked that it was seldom used. Vow of Silence. I went out again. Harrier's haste went up first, and I boosted right past the first few groups of ice imps. I came close to where the worm appeared, and cast fleeting stability. BAM! The worm came up. BAM! Another came up. They went back down and started a chasing me underground. I avoided some more Avicara by Vow of Silence. Recasted my fleeting stability, and contintued. The worms continued to chase me. Where I was going to end up I had no idea. Finally I saw the gate. Dreadnaught's Drift. Harrier's haste went up again, and I zoomed towards it, ramming into the gate at top speed. I had made it to the Drift. I'm almost a quarter of the way there.


End file.
